Social media, crowdfunding bring Chromebooks to Faubion School students

Faubion School teacher Gabrielle Quintana, center, with two students at an outdoor school program. Quintana recently raised around $1,100 for class room technology through social media and crowdfunding efforts. Submitted photo

There’s much talk about crowdfunding in business –it’s a way to raise small amounts of money from many “investors” or donors. An enterprising Faubion PK-8 sixth grade teacher recently put this fundraising tool to work to raise money for technology in her classroom, spreading the word via social media platform Nextdoor.com. Her project was fully-funded to the tune of around $1,100 within just a few days of posting her appeal.

Gabrielle Quintana’s classroom is currently housed at Tubman School while a new school is constructed to replace the recently demolished Faubion School. Quintana was looking to raise money for five Chromebooks. According to an article on Laptopmag.com, a Chromebook is a laptop that doesn’t run on Windows 10 or Mac OS X – instead it runs on Google’s Chrome OS. These machines are designed to be used primarily while connected to the Internet, with most applications and documents living in the cloud.

Quintana feels that getting this technology in the classroom is vital to the student education process.

“It’s logistically difficult to have regular technology in our classroom. With these Chromebooks, I can now provide writing stations so students can actually publish their work in the classroom and also have access to interactive math games.”

Quintana said she is usually hesitant to ask for money for her students, but she feels crowdfunding is “pretty amazing.”

“$5 from many donors adds up, and often other companies will often match funds. Or, if they see that a project is gaining momentum, they will pay the rest,” she said.

Quintana used the crowdfunding platform Donors Choose, which she billed as a “very reputable organization that manages the money and purchases materials for classrooms.”

Susan Trabucco is a business communications consultant. She lives in the Beaumont Wilshire neighborhood, just a few steps from Concordia. Reach her by email or call (503) 440-7732.